Greetings from the Barn!

Since my last column, we’ve opened our farcical hit “Boeing Boeing” (thank you to everyone who made it to the show) and are in the thick of producing “Dial M for Murder,” which runs from July 2 to 13. Jeffrey Hatcher adapted the original by Frederick Knott, a thriller set in 1950s London focusing on a woman whose conniving husband has some nefarious plans for her.

Unlike the boisterous, ebullient “Boeing,” “Dial M” is tense, atmospheric and suspenseful. One crucial theatrical design element that can contribute greatly to evoking those emotions is lighting. There is so much to learn about what goes into lighting design, so I’m devoting two columns to three people currently working at the Players. They’re deeply involved in that vital part of theatrical storytelling, from both the design and technical aspects.

What follows is an interview I conducted with the three of them as we were rehearsing “Dial M” and preparing to go into the technical rehearsals for it. My interviewees are Laura Eckelman, the lighting designer for “Boeing Boeing” and “Dial M”; Brennan Desautelle, the master electrician for the Players; and Katie Alba, who is a Core Company (apprentice) member focused on electrics and lighting, the assisting lighting designer for “Boeing” and “Dial M” and the lighting designer for our upcoming musical, “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.”

In this column, I’ll focus on Laura and Brennan, and in the next I’ll fold Katie into the conversation. The interview has been edited and condensed.

BF: I think a lot of people outside of our world don’t know a lot about lighting design and specifically just how many people it takes to create a lighting design for a show. Brennan, can you share a little what it means as master electrician?

BD: My role is to realize the designs that the lighting designers bring in. So, it’s all their paperwork that they’ve generated for their ideas, all the choices they made regarding color, placement of different instruments, etc. It’s my job to realize all of that in the space that we have here at Peterborough, to know where everything is and how much of it we have.

BF: I’m thinking about what the timeline for all three of you is like. Prior to rehearsal starting, what is your job compared to once the show gets underway?

BD: The LDs (lighting designers) often are the first ones doing the conceptual phase, making all those decisions. But once the decisions start being made, my job is to ensure that we can do it all. For example, this year we were able to negotiate a few equipment exchanges with some other theaters in and around the area. We were very grateful to receive as part of that exchange a couple of moving lighting fixtures from the St. Paul School. Because they’re at school, they don’t have a need for them during the summer.

BF: Katie, pivoting to you. Where do you fit in all of this? You wear several hats.

KA: Yes, I wear many, many, many hats. It all began before I stepped foot in Peterborough. I met with Stephen (Jones, the lighting designer for “Native Gardens” and “Hay Fever”) and Laura Eckelman over Zoom, creating this lighting plot that can be utilized for all our shows. When I got here, it was a lot of taking in the space and communicating with the other lighting designers the challenges that I’ve noticed or things we need to change. So, I spent a lot of time with Brennan, measuring everything connected to lighting and relaying that to the other lighting designers.

BF: Laura, we were talking about how Brennan as ME interacts with the LD. So, can you walk us through a little bit of your timeline as lighting designer for “Boeing” or “Dial M” in terms of early conversations with directors or other designers up to when you arrive at Peterborough?

LE: Yes. I would also just want to add that Brennan is underselling his job. He does a lot, including managing all those loans and rentals, but also maintaining all the lighting equipment and infrastructure. It’s a very important job, and I’m very grateful that Brennan is so good at it.

So back to the lighting design, every show is a little bit different. The lighting designer for each production gets to decide from scratch where every light goes everywhere in the theater, and not only that, but what color it gets, how sharp or soft it is, where the edges are, etc. A big Broadway show might have 400 lights. At Peterborough, we probably have between 100 to 150. It’s a lot of individual decisions. Because I want to be able to control how much light there is, you know, in the corner where the bar is versus how much light there is in the hall. I’m kind of like the cinematographer of theater. I’m telling the audience where to look, framing that image for them, lighting it in a way that is suitable to the time of day – to the mood of that moment.

BF: So how do you start?

LE: I read the script and think about what are the sort of primary things that lighting needs to accomplish in this play. Using “Boeing Boeing” as an example, it’s a comedy and needs to be bright and visible, and time of day — the passage of time — does matter. Those were my lighting goals.

BF: You articulated what your goals were for “Boeing.” Now, can you share what your goals are for “Dial M”?

LE: So that play on the surface is a very similar play to “Boeing” – both have a realistic interior. But if you just scratch beneath the surface, it’s a different stylistic venture. “Dial M” is — as our director, Laura Kepley, said — not quite a murder mystery, but a thriller. It calls for a different kind of lighting vocabulary, in the context of film. You expect a different kind of visual vocabulary from film noir or Alfred Hitchcock –

BF: – than you do from staging a romantic comedy. I’m excited to share more of the interview in my next installment!

Brendon Fox is artistic director of the Peterborough Players.